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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27830890">Zelda's Dream</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gyffes/pseuds/Lleu'>Lleu (Gyffes)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Legend of Zelda &amp; Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:42:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,209</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27830890</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gyffes/pseuds/Lleu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Nannying a Princess is thankless tiresome work. But when Zelda has a dream, Impa's job becomes far from routine.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Zelda's Dream</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Impa sat in the far corners of the castle archives, studying the ancient prophecies. Few could read the ancient language, and fewer still could see beyond the words into the true meaning. She was barely certain that <em>she</em> could, at times.</p><p>Take the passage she was studying, for instance. <em>A hand extended from the desert shall squeeze the land dry. Cities turn to living graves as hope sleeps a week's slumber</em>. Or she thought it said 'week' anyway. It could well have been "weak" or even "waste". The writing was faded and nigh-illegible, and the dim light provided by her candle helped little.</p><p>The first problem was <em>which desert</em>? It might have been the Gerudo desert. It might also have been any of the myriad deserts that had previously existed-or <em>would</em> exist-throughout Hyrule over the eons. Ancient maps suggested large shifts to the world's geography in ways the sages could not explain. It might not even mean an actual desert. It could be the prophecy spoke of some <em>deserted land</em>, or a drought. And somehow she was supposed to determine whether this prophecy had already been fulfilled.</p><p>She sighed and turned back to the Chronicles of the Sky, looking for any clue that could resolve the problem.</p><p>It was then that Princess Zelda entered. She strode in fully dressed in all her regalia, looking far too perky for the pre-dawn hour. She carried a cup of coffee, which she placed on the desk, and then she sat down opposite Impa.</p><p>"Good morning, Impa," she said, beaming.</p><p>"Good morning, Your Highness," Impa replied. She carefully closed the scroll she had been working on and sat up. "Would you care to tell me everything you are doing wrong right now?" Impa had no doubt the princess knew better. She also had no doubt that she also had a well-reasoned explanation for why <em>this</em> time the rules were silly and it was somehow a <em>good</em> idea for her to flaunt them and be out of bed before even the <em>birds</em> were awake.</p><p>"Let's see," Zelda said. "First, I'm not allowed to be nice to people and bring them coffee. You're welcome, by the way."</p><p>Impa took a sip. It was good coffee. "People bring <em>you</em> things," she said. "If you want to make a gift to someone, you <em>have it sent</em>, and I would be happy to deliver it for you."</p><p>"Well I can't exactly have you send yourself coffee. That wouldn't be a gift, would it? Besides, if I can't be nice to people, then I don't want to be a princess."</p><p>Impa rolled her eyes. She suspected Zelda was just goading her with the coffee. Though she liked to play dumb, she <em>did</em> know better.</p><p>"What else?" Impa said.</p><p>"I ought to be in bed, because I am a growing young woman who must take perfect care of herself, and Nayru forbid I ever experience anything unpleasant."</p><p>"Someone's getting a pay reduction for this," Impa said bluntly. Half the job of the princess's personal guard was to keep her from her nighttime adventures. Really, how hard could it be to keep a ten-year-old girl in her room? "Who is on duty tonight?"</p><p>"Oh, don't be cross with him, Impa. I promised him you would see the necessity, and he's escorting me right back to my room when we are done."</p><p>Impa began to object, but Zelda cut her off.</p><p>"You cannot punish him; he acts under my authority."</p><p>Impa's eyes widened a bit, and then she nodded. The princess could be shockingly mature at times. She would lead well when the time came.</p><p>"So what is it you came to see me about, Your Highness?" Impa said.</p><p>"I had a dream."</p><p>Impa suddenly took this meeting much more seriously. Zelda was too old for nightmares or childish fantasy. If the heir of the Royal Family came to her with a dream, that meant she believed it was prophetic.</p><p>She listened as Zelda described the vision, the dark clouds passing over Hyrule from the west, and the ray of light from the forest. Her heart sank at each word. It lined up too nicely with the prophecy she had just read. And the letter King Ganondorf had sent, offering a "hand of alliance". As Zelda completed the tale, the tumblers of the prophecy aligned, and its secrets were laid bare before her piercing eye.</p><p>Some prophecies acted as waypoints, merely signaling things which must be.</p><p>Some prophecies led to future branches, and their fulfillment or failure altered the weave of history.</p><p>Unmitigated disaster lay behind this prophecy. If it were not fulfilled, if they did not allow this hand of the desert to drain them, then there would be no more Hyrule.</p><p>"Impa?" Zelda's voice cut in on her thoughts. "Impa, are you listening? We have to do something. We have to help the light."</p><p>Impa's heart screamed, but she walled it off as her mind raced through the possibilities.</p><p>"The clouds are Ganondorf, that much is clear," Impa said. She had never liked the man, but he had seemed cordial enough. He would make a dangerous enemy.</p><p>"Oh, because they came from the desert, and Ganondorf is from the desert too," Zelda said.</p><p>Impa nodded. "Thank you for bringing me this warning. It is clear he cannot be trusted. He must covet the Triforce."</p><p>"Impa, we can't let him have it!" Zelda said.</p><p>Impa nodded. "Easier said than done, Your Highness."</p><p>"We'll just get it before he does!"</p><p>She had taken the bait. Zelda leaned in and they hashed out the plan. The plan to collect the Spiritual Stones and open the Door of Time. The plan that would grant the Triforce to Ganondorf and doom Hyrule to a reign of terror, all under the king's nose.</p><p>Dear Nayru, she was committing treason for a scrap of <em>paper</em>.</p><p>When they were through, Zelda left to be escorted back to bed. Impa remained in the archives. She held her head in her hands. Shaking. <em>Please, let her not notice the flaw. Let her be too young to see the flaw</em>.</p><p>She saw another consequence of their plan: Ganondorf would target Zelda specifically. Not just because she was the princess, but because she had plotted against him. Impa could not protect her against the Triforce.</p><p>She wanted to scream. She wanted to tear the room apart and burn every last prophecy. But a tantrum would betray the plan, and the prophecy must be fulfilled. She gripped the edges of the table with all her might, thinking to channel all her fear and anger and guilt into it. She pressed in on the edges, her fingertips gouged into the wood, and then broke off the ends of it.</p><p>She collapsed to her knees, fighting for control. She had led a charge up Death Mountain in the Civil War. She had seen her tribe, her entire <em>race</em> slaughtered in the conflict. She could face the future. She must. Dawn was coming, and there were preparations to be made.</p><p>But before she rose to face the day, she whispered a prayer. Her first prayer in ten long years.</p><p>"May the goddesses be with him. And may he lift this darkness I set upon the land."</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I assume y'all've played OoT so I didn't go into too terribly much detail about "the plan". Let me know if it doesn't make sense for you, and I can go back and clean it up.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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